Peter Boncz

Peter Boncz is a Professor in the special chair of Large Scale Analytical Database Systems at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and leads the Database Architectures (DA) research group at CWI (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica), the Netherlands' national research institute for mathematics and computer science. He serves on the CWI management team and is actively involved in multiple research initiatives and industry collaborations.

Professor Boncz is internationally recognized as a pioneer of column-store databases, introduced through his PhD project MonetDB. His research spans database architecture, query processing optimization, and analytical database systems. His work on vectorized query processing with his first PhD student Marcin Zukowski has become foundational in modern analytical databases including BigQuery, Databricks, Snowflake, and DuckDB, which has millions of monthly downloads. Current research focuses include GPU data processing, vector search optimization, confidential computing, and graph data management.

Boncz's recent publications reveal strong trends toward optimizing database systems for modern hardware architectures, particularly GPUs and cloud CPUs. His work bridges theoretical database concepts with practical implementation, focusing on performance optimization through innovative data layouts, compression techniques, and hardware-aware processing. The research shows a clear trajectory from foundational database concepts toward specialized optimization for emerging hardware and application requirements.

• VLDB Test of Time Award 2025 (second time, previously won in 2009)
• CIDR Test of Time Award 2024
• ACM Fellow (2022)
• Humboldt Research Award (2013)
• ICTRegie Award (2006)

Boncz has co-founded six spin-off companies in data systems, including MonetDB BV, and serves as an advisor to ventures like Databricks Corp. His research is supported by multiple external funding projects including Actian Research Grants, Databricks research agreements, and Motherduck Service Agreements. He has advised numerous students, with Marcin Zukowski being notably mentioned as his first PhD student who co-developed vectorized query processing.

As leader of the Database Architectures research group at CWI, Boncz oversees a team focused on pushing the boundaries of database technology. The group maintains close ties with industry through projects with Databricks, Motherduck, and RelationalAI, while continuing to develop open-source technologies like DuckDB. The team is particularly active in GPU acceleration, confidential computing, and graph data management through the Linked Data Benchmark Council (LDBC), which Boncz founded.